Jim Carrey urges users to delete Facebook accounts and dump stock

Carrey posted on Twitter that he is deleting his Facebook page and dumping the tech firm's stock, and urged others to do the same.

Jim Carrey has sold his Facebook shares and will shut down his profile. Credit:AFP

He said the company wasn't doing enough to learn from its mistakes.

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Tech companies, including Facebook, have been under pressure to do more to combat misinformation in the wake of the 2016 US presidential election.

Facebook, which has more than 2 billion monthly active users worldwide, has vowed to step up its efforts to protect election integrity.

Carrey, though, said the company isn't doing enough and "profited from Russian interference in our elections." Russian officials have denied meddling in the presidential election, but social media companies discovered Kremlin-linked accounts.

About 126 million Americans may have seen content from the Russian government-linked Internet Research Agency on Facebook between 2015 to 2017, the company said.

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Facebook found more than 3000 ads associated with IRA during this period, but claimed it didn't know they had Russian ties when they were first purchased.

Facebook isn't the only social media site that displayed Russian-linked content. Last week, Twitter said it notified 1.4 million people in the United States who interacted with accounts connected to the Kremlin-linked Internet Research Agency during the 2016 presidential election season.

Carrey also posted his Twitter message on his Facebook page, which is still up. He did not say how many Facebook shares he owns.

"For a long time America enjoyed a geographical advantage in the world with oceans on both sides to protect it," Carrey said in a statement sent to SiliconBeat.

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"Now, social media has created cyber-bridges over which those who do not have our best interest in mind can cross and we are allowing it.

"What we need now are activist investors to send a message that responsible oversight is needed," he added. "What the world needs now is capitalism with a conscience."

Facebook has not responded to a request for comment however founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has said stemming the flow of misinformation is among the company's foremost goals.